Her Fault
by Dracoisalooker76
Summary: Troy's little sister will share her big brother with the basketball team and the drama nerds, but she draws the line at 'that girl'.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

"Would you get lost Mack! I'm trying to do my homework!" A frustrated Troy yelled. The 8th grade girl that he yelled at just cocked her head and blinked once.

"Dad wants to know why you signed up for that stupid musical in the first place, and frankly so would I," she said calmly.

Troy just sighed and looked down at his paper. Looking at them you could tell they were siblings. They had a lot of the same features; same eyes, nose, mouth, same hair color, even the same build.

"You know Darbus won't pick you. I hear you singing in the shower all the time. You stink!" She had actually heard him sing before, at the New Years Party, and she thought he was great. But she would never tell it to his face.

Troy looked up from his paper. Mack saw the look in his eyes and knew he was getting mad. She hardly ever saw her brother get mad, he was always pretty calm. But lately her brother blew up like a volcano when he was even the slightest bit angry. She focused her eyes down on his paper, it was history. She didn't like history. Troy had always been good at history, she had slipped by because her last name was Bolton.

"Could you just leave me be, I already have dad pestering me about it, I don't need you too." Troy was the sensible one like their mother, Mack was like Coach Bolton and didn't know when to shut up.

"I bet it's that girl." No, Mack wasn't _like_ her dad. She was _exactly _like her dad. "You need to keep your head in the game, not in the musical. You can't be on cloud 9 about Montez either. She's not even that pretty."

Troy's pencil broke right in his hand and Mack's eyes widened. "Mack, I'm sick and tired of you always on my back. I don't care what you think about Gabriella or the musical. She's very nice, and I really don't care if you don't think she's pretty. Since when has your opinion ever mattered?" He rose from his seat and stood over her. She stepped backward trying to get away from his gaze, but she knew it was useless. "Oh Mack you make me so mad. Sometimes I wish you were never born and it was just me! Get out of my sight! I hate you!"

Mack could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Troy was the kind of guy that when he said things he meant them. She turned around on the spot and ran off not wanting to give Troy the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Mackenzie Bolton never cried, it was just a fact of life.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Gabriella, I can't wait until the Decathlon! We are so going to win with you there!" Taylor said as she and Gabriella walked down the sidewalk toward the school. They were going to meet Chad, Zeke, Jason and Troy to discuss how they were going to pull of the wonderful idea Troy and Chad had come up with earlier that morning.

"I can't either. I'm so surprised that they came up with that idea so quickly," Gabriella replied.

"I'm surprised Chad helped come up with it at all." The two girls giggled at Taylor's statement. Once the giggling subsided, Taylor pointed toward the elementary school. "This is the short cut I was telling you about."

Gabriella stopped and looked around as Taylor kept walking. She had never been at the elementary school before. The kids all looked so happy, except one little girl on a swing.

"Gabriella! Come on!"

"Taylor, go and tell them that we're going to meet here." Taylor shrugged and walk toward East High as Gabriella started walking toward the girl. The closer she got to the girl the more of her features she could make out. Her head was looking down at the ground showing a hair color that Gabriella could have sworn matched Troy's. She could hear the girl sniffle a little. Then when she was so close she could almost touch the girl she noticed the sleeve of her long sleeved shirt. Written on it was BOLTON in red. On her other sleeve were basketballs. Troy had never told her about this little girl who she presumed was his sister. But who could forget to tell someone about their sister.

"Hi," she said cautiously. The girl looked up. Even through all the red Gabriella could tell those eyes. They were Troy's eyes and she should know, she was the one who caught herself staring into Troy's eyes when no one was looking.

"Get away from me," the girl said. It reminded Gabriella of when she first met Coach Bolton. There was a sense of hatred in her voice. "You're the one who made Troy hate me."

Gabriella was shocked. She didn't understand. "You know, it helps me a lot when I'm upset to talk to someone. That makes me feel a whole lot better." So maybe Gabriella lied a little bit. Really she liked to sit in her room with a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream when she was upset. But if she didn't talk, she couldn't find out why this little girl thought that it was her fault that Troy hated her. If he really did say that.

"I don't think so."

"Why don't you tell me your name," Gabriella tried.

"You probably already know it."

"No, I don't actually." The girl's face dropped even more as Gabriella said this.

"You mean, he didn't even tell you about me. He must really hate me." Tears started flowing freely down her cheeks.

"So...how about a name?"

The girl sighed and the tears stopped. "Mackenzie Bolton. Can I ask you a question?"

"Go right ahead."

"Do you find pleasure in taking my brother away from me?"

Gabriella was shocked. She had not expected that question. "What," she spluttered out. Did she really ask that?

The girl rolled her eyes. "Troy's different and it's all your and that stupid musicale's fault. He never yelled at me before. He would have stayed the old Troy if you hadn't come along. But he changed, he yells at dad and me all the time. Mom says it's from the stress of the big game, but I know it's your fault."

Gabriella was speechless. She couldn't picture Troy yelling at anyone. "I'm sorry if the musical has disrupted your life."

"Disrupted, try ruined it." Gabriella gave her a blank stare hoping that she would continue. The girl sighed. "Troy was the person I went to if I had a problem. Now when I go to find him, he's either gone with you or trying to pick out an outfit for the next day at school that might impress you."

Gabriella was taken back by this. Troy Bolton, star of the basketball team, picking out clothes that would impress the freaky math girl... that couldn't be right.

"Really I don't get why he likes you." Gabriella turned to look at the ground. Who did this girl think she was. She was like those cheerleaders Gabriella had met. "I mean, he told me at the other schools you were called the freaky math girl. Oh yeah, Troy tells me everything." The last comment was because Gabriella put on a stunned look.

"Well... at least Troy used to tell me everything. Now he doesn't say as much as 2 words to me...unless he's mad. We used to do everything together. What we had was special..."

"What did you do that was special?"

The girl gave Gabriella a strange look. "You'd laugh."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Troy used to read to me at night. Mom is usually away on business and Dad had to take over and do everything Mom did plus coach, so Troy took over. Sometimes he'd tell me stories of East High or about Princesses named Mack and her daring brother Prince Troy who used to travel all over the world. And after the New Years Party, he told me a story about how Prince Troy fell in love with the beautiful Princess Gabriella, but didn't know if he'd ever see her again. That's when everything started to change."

Gabriella looked into the girl's eyes and saw loneliness. She never knew much about Troy's home life, just that his dad was the varsity coach. She always pictured Troy's life to be perfectly paved so he didn't struggle or anything. Listening to the girl's story, she knew otherwise. She had always known Troy was calm, caring and mature, but she understood why now. He had to grow up so his sister would get the same love and attention he had.

"Troy does care about you. I know he does."

"No he doesn't."

"MACK!" Gabriella turned to see Troy running toward them, Chad, Taylor, Zeke and Jason jogging to keep up. She stood up and moved out of the way, leaning against the beam. She watched Troy pick up the girl and swing her around, the girl hugged him tightly. Gabriella smiled and walked toward the rest.

"Gabriella, we are so happy you found her," Chad said.

"Yeah Troy was flipping out," Zeke added.

"He was yelling at himself too. It was pretty funny," Jason said, chuckling at the memory.

"It was nothing really. I just noticed she was upset and went over to help. The problem we need to worry about now is how we're going to pull this off."

**How'd you like it? How will Mack react to Troy getting the lead part... with Gabriella? Next Chapter: The Audition, The Game, and a Chad-Taylor Conversation. _Review!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story! **

"Where is Troy going?" Coach Bolton yelled as Troy ran out of the gym. There were shrugs and 'I don't knows' coming from the players. The coach just sighed, there were other problems at hand. The scoreboard was new.

"For safety regulations, we need to all make an orderly exit from the gym," the principal said. Coach Bolton watched in suspicion as his team smiled, turned abruptly and made their way out of the gym in a hurry. From the look on Chad's face Coach Bolton knew he had something to do with it.

"Daddy?"

The coach turned to look at his daughter, who was fighting through the crowd to get to him. She looked so small trying to duck under a couple's intertwined hands. "What happened?"

"I don't know, but I bet Chad and your brother have something to do with it."

The coach's words floated through Mack head as she pictured the day she ran away. Troy had sung her to sleep before they started to talk about any plans. She never felt so relaxed, even if it was in the middle of the playground. She could still feel herself in her brother's warm, muscular arms as he sang a lullaby their mother use to sing to her. Her brother was far better then her mom.

"Well Mack, let's follow the crowd. Maybe then we'll see what's happening."

Mack had an idea what was happening even though her father had no clue. She really didn't want to be by her father when he saw Troy singing instead of playing basketball. She saw her chance to escape: the front door to the auditorium. She couldn't see her father anywhere, so how would it hurt if she went in that way?

"Mack!" She turned to see Taylor walking up with the Scholastic Decathlon team. Before she knew it, she was ushered in and sitting next to them. Troy and Gabriella started prance around the stage after the 2nd verse. Chad stood cheering them on. Mack turned her head to the side door where her father had come in. She was surprised to see a smile form on his lips. She could tell he was in disbelief, but she could tell he was proud of Troy too. She smiled when her brother and Gabriella ended the song and made a mental note to herself that she needed to scold him for kissing her on the cheek. She felt that it would have been more romantic if he had kissed her on the lips, but then again, she didn't exactly want to see that and she needed to scold him for kissing her at all.

She stood and walked over to her father. "Why didn't you tell me he was a good singer?" Coach

Bolton asked. She just shrugged and turned her head to look at the stage where Ms. Darbus was talking to the two performers. Sensing her father's annoyance with her answer, she said, "I guess I didn't want to believe it myself."

hsmhsmhsmhsm

The buzzer rang as Troy's final shot fell in the basket. The people in the stands all jumped for joy as the players hoisted Troy in the air chanting their chant. Mack swore she could hear Chad's voice from her seat next to Sharpay in the stands. Today was truly an interesting day. Troy in the musical, Sharpay and Ryan actually attending a basketball game, the Scholastic Decathlon team winning their meet and the fact that Taylor and Gabriella called Sharpay to tell her. What were the chances of that?

As she walked down to the court, she noticed Gabriella come up behind Troy and fling her arms around his neck. She was about to turn away when Chad cut in between them. 'Go Chad,' she said mentally. 'I didn't have to see my brother kissing Montez.'

She stepped down off the step and onto court where she was grabbed by Chad and hugged. She smiled as Chad told her how excited for the after party he was and how he was going with Taylor. Then he was summoned by Jason and Zeke and walked away, leaving her free to roam around in the crowd of excited people.

She noticed that Troy and Gabriella were walking out of the gym. She frowned to herself slightly. If Troy had acted that differently when they were only friends, she tried to picture him when they were dating. She felt a tear trickle down her cheek, Troy was never going to be the same and she had to deal with it.

"Mack. Sweetie what's wrong?" Mack hastily wiped the tears from her face and turned to look at the person who had spoken. She found herself looking into the two concerned faces of Taylor and Chad. Mack just smiled sweetly and walked to the forgotten bleachers, sitting on the hard wood.

Taylor looked at Chad expectantly. Chad just nodded and walked over to the upset 13-year-old, sitting next to her on the bleachers. The crowd was starting to diminish slowly, as people were headed to the after party. Mack climbed into Chad's lap, tears pouring freely down her face. He hugged her, knowing that it would have made her feel better if it was Troy holding her, but Troy was the one making her cry. He rubbed her back and whispered in her ear that everything would be alright. Zeke and Jason had noticed and started walking over. They were her honorary big brothers, she had said so herself. They were there for her when Troy messed up.

"I should be happy for them," she said as she wiped away the remaining tears on her face. "But it's so hard." The cheeks that had just been dried were wet again and she hid her face in Chad's shirt. Zeke rubbed her back and Jason told her that sometimes these types of things would be hard for her to deal with, but Gabriella wasn't so bad and she would get use to it.

"Hey, I'm going to get her out of here," Chad said, adjusting Mack so he could pick up her tiny form. "I'll meet you at the party."

Zeke said that he was going to stay for awhile, to wait and see if the janitor's needed any help picking up the mess the team had made. Chad and Jason nodded and walked toward Taylor and Kelsi, who had started to talk to Taylor when Jason went to help with Mack. The gym was still crowded with people and nobody noticed them leave.

Chad, Taylor and Mack walked to Chad's house where they let Mack clean her face a little bit before going anywhere else. Chad knew that Mack appreciated it. He and Taylor sat on the couch as Mack rushed to the Danforth's bathroom. There was an awkward silence until Chad broke it by saying, "I can't believe Troy is... I can't even find a word. He didn't tell Gabriella about Mack at all?"

"That's what Gabriella told me. Troy never so much as mentioned he had a sibling. She thought he was an only child."

"I just don't understand. I mean I could see someone forget to tell their friend that they had a dog or a cat or something, but a sister. And Mack too-"

"She is pretty sweet," Taylor interrupted. "Why would Troy not mention her?"

"That's the million dollar question," Chad replied. "He is going to get a long talk from me at this party, if he even shows up. This isn't like Troy."

"I'm ready," Mack said walking down the stairs. She entered the room a jean skirt and Troy's sweatshirt he had left in Chad's room a month ago. Her hair was put in French braids. Taylor smiled and Chad had his mouth in a perfect "O" shape. He hadn't expected that. His sister's head popped out from behind the wall. "You didn't think I was going to let her leave in sweatpants and a t-shirt, Chad. Are you crazy? Doesn't she look so cute, Taylor!" Chad rolled his eyes. He couldn't wait until next year when she left for college.

"What, do you have a wardrobe for her here?" Chad asked. His sister shook her head, "she fits into my old clothes. You know I never part with some things."

"Oh, how could I forget," Chad answered sarcastically.

**Hope you liked it just as much as you like the last chapter. Mack's pretty upset with Troy... he's really the only one who can make her cry. _Review!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Monica7725: Sorry if I confused you, but the girl who was talking to Chad was Chad's sister, not Taylor. Sorry for the confusion. **

**Thanks again to everyonefor reviewing!**

Mack shut the door as she walked in the house. The party was pretty good, not as good as some, but still good. She had stayed close to Chad and Taylor most of the night, not knowing many of the other people there. They all knew her though. She must have heard "You're Bolton's sister," eight million times, which was one of the many reasons to stick by Chad and Taylor, they could get her out of that situation. She sat with Sharpay, Ryan, Zeke, Jason and Kelsi for a minute to give Chad and Taylor time alone. She felt bad, Chad had been so excited, yet he was stuck babysitting her most of the night.

"Hey hon," her mom said coming out of the kitchen. "Your brother still at the party?"

She thought about what to tell her mother. She could lie and say that Troy was at Chad's or that he was walking Montez home, or that Zeke was holding an 'after the after party' bash, but she didn't want to say that Troy hadn't been there at all. Her mother would get worried and that wouldn't do any good.

Mack was just about to answer when she heard the door click. Both heads turned to see Troy walking in with his arm out singing 'breaking free'. He had the goofiest grin on his face and Mack knew he had been with Gabriella. Her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Have fun at the party?" Their mom asked. He stopped suddenly, the grin still there.

"What?" Troy asked as he sat in a chair.

"She asked if you had fun at the party." Troy looked at Mack and his eyes widened.

"Yeah, it was a blast." Troy had never been good at lying.

Mack took one look at her mother's face and knew that her mother knew he was lying. "Why didn't you bring your sister home?"

"Um... well... you see... she wanted to walk home?" O.K., so maybe Troy never being good at lying was an understatement. He wouldn't know how to lie if a cow bit him in the butt and told him how.

"Troy where were you?" Mrs. Bolton said with suspicion.

"Don't worry, when I caught him he was on the roof with Mrs. Twinkle Towne," Coach Bolton said entering the room. "What happened to Mr. This-Is-The-Best-Day-Of-My-Life? You should have seen him in the car. 'I'm so happy!' 'I've never been this excited ever!' 'Dad, can you believe it?'" He chuckled a little at the memory. Troy, who sunk very deep in his chair, was turning a very deep shade of red.

"Jack!" Mrs. Bolton nodded toward the embarrassed boy. Coach Bolton was too into his memory to notice and he kept on chuckling. Troy just kept on sinking in his chair and put his shirt up over his face to hide his bright red cheeks.

Mack looked on at the scene that was playing in front of her in disbelief. She had thought that her father was on her side about 'the girl'. She figured that her mother would be happy, but her father? Where had the aliens taken her real dad and who was this impostor?

"Hey, is that my sweatshirt?" Troy asked, desperate for a subject change.

"Yeah, you're welcome for retrieving it from Chad's house because you were too lazy to go get it." She turned abruptly and ran up the stairs to her room. She jumped on her bed and took in the smell of Troy's sweatshirt. It was the 'old' Troy's and the smell was a little different. She felt tears roll down her face again. "I have got to stop making a habit of this," she said to herself. She laid her head on her pillow and wiped her tears with her sleeve. Once her tears had stopped and she stared at the ground. She heard her door open and figuring it was probably her mom, looked up. Instead, she saw Troy.

"Thanks for getting my sweatshirt."

"Anytime," came the hollow reply.

Troy sighed, this was going to be the hardest thing he had to do that night. Finally kissing Gabriella would come in a close second though.

"Mack... I know-"

"You know what Troy? How I feel? If you're going to say that, you mine as well leave now. You have no idea! Right now I think I would rather be Chad or Zeke or Jason's sister instead of your's."

Troy blinked a long blink. He deserved that. He had just listened to his messages and found three really bad ones from Chad, Zeke, and Jason. All of them telling him the same thing. "O.K. Mack, you win. I guess I have been acting pretty mean to you lately."

"Are you ashamed of me?"

"No," Troy had never felt so rotten in all his life. "I guess..., I don't know. I told Gabriella only a few things about home because I didn't really want to talk to her about Dad. I knew he wouldn't like me singing with her and that was selfish on my part to not tell her about my family."

He walked over to the edge of her bed and sat on it. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"You really like Gabriella don't you," she said, pausing between every word as if the words were being forced out of her. Troy nodded his head very slowly. She took a deep breath to try and stop tears from coming. She didn't know what these tears were from, but she couldn't control them. Troy took her in his arms and sang to her. She put her face in his chest and knew she was smelling not only Troy, but Gabriella too, and amazingly she was O.K. with that.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

Mack walked up to the house and rang the doorbell. There was shuffling and when the door opened a kind looking woman answered. "Yes."

"Hi, my name's Mackenzie Bolton, is Gabriella around."

"I think she is, hold on a moment." Mack stood on the porch and looked around. The house was a nice looking house with beautiful plants in the yard. Mack looked back at the door to find Gabriella standing in the doorway. Before Gabriella could say anything Mack began to speak.

"Gabriella, I made a huge mistake. I never even met you before I started to hate you. But really, I didn't hate you, I hated Troy's actions, which were probably my fault in the first place. But I blamed you, which I shouldn't have. I just thought that Troy would change and I'm sorry I said all those mean things to you. I was just trying to tell myself that-"

"Mackenzie, you're rambling." Gabriella laughed. "So the rumors are true, you _are_ exactly like your brother."

"I understand if you never want to see me again, but don't take it out on Troy. It'll destroy him."

"Actually, I think what you did was sweet."

You could tell Mack was confused. "What?"

"You were just trying to keep your brother the same. I know, it's hard when someone you love starts to date, you think you'll lose them forever. And, I think if we put this behind us we could be good friends." She laughed a little more before saying, "even if I did hate you, I wouldn't take it out on Troy."

"Thanks. I better go, Mom's probably worried sick." Mack jumped off the porch. Right before Gabriella shut the door Mack yelled, "wait!" Gabriella looked at her eager to hear what she had to say.

"My friends call me Mack."

"Alright, bye Mack."

"Bye Gabriella."

'Maybe Troy liking Gabriella won't be such a bad thing,' Mack thought as she turned down Gabriella's street toward her house. 'Every thing's going to change, but maybe that's O.K.' She looked up at the sky and smiled, skipping the rest of the way home.

**Hope you like it. I don't know if I should add more. I like writing about Mack, Troy and the gang. I think it would be cute to show more of a big protective brother Troy (MaybeMack gets a crushthat Troy doesn't like?). Maybe a sequel adding more of Ryan, Sharpay, Zeke and the rest of the guys? Tell me what you think. _Review!_**


	4. Hey! Sequel!

Hey! The sequel is on it's way. I thought I ought to tell you. Mack gets a crush... Troy finally gets a date with Gabriella... and the musical rehearsals... can you say chaos? First chapter should be up withing the week!

Dracoisalooker76


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